It’s the holiday season. It’s the “holy day” season. Holiday celebrations are almost always synonymous with “home” and “family.” Sometimes that’s good and sometimes that’s…complicated. Even the most healthy, happiest families have struggles, arguments, topics that cause strain. There are many who don’t know what it’s like to have a ‘home’, a place to belong, a place to be loved. There are people who don’t have any family (by DNA standards). For these and many others, the holidays, are hard.
Whatever your experience of home, holidays, or family, there is a home and a family that transcends our earthly circumstances. Psalm 90:1 reminds us that God is our home. We are all bound together by the power of the Holy Spirit as more than just strangers, colleagues, or friends. By God’s love, grace, and compassion we are family. And, like any home, any family, we have our struggles, arguments, topics that cause strain. No matter, we are home, and we are family regardless.
Advent is the eager preparation for the long-awaited Messiah. The one who is our home comes to make His home in us.
This Advent/Christmas we will be emphasizing being home for Christmas. Not just ‘coming’ home, but ‘being home’ for our relatives, friends, faith-family, and maybe most especially, people who don’t feel or believe that they have a home or family. What could that look like in your life? Could you invite someone you know to share in your family traditions?
Maybe you could start a new tradition? I want to encourage you to approach Advent differently this year. Maybe, instead of the constant round of parties and open houses, going out, spending extravagantly on gifts, we choose to be home more. We spend our evenings at home, with the people God has given us. Low key and lovely. Baking with kids, grandkids, friends, family. What if we gave time and affection to our friends and family as our most valued gifts. What if we gave “gift money” to the ministries that are closest to our hearts? What does it mean to you to be “home for Christmas?” What would it look like to give someone else a place to belong?
Each Sunday in Advent we will celebrate communion, recognizing that God is our home, all who gather are family, and Jesus is the feast at the Table. Each week will celebrate communion with Christmas Cookies, recipes from our congregation. The Advent Devotional I’ll be teaching from is Coffee and Cookies with God vol. 2. We have a few copies on hand at church or you can order them from Amazon (kindle editions as well).
On Christmas Eve, during our offering, we’ll ask our church family to bring forth their 2025 commitments and lay them in the manger as our gift to the King.
Answering the Call,
Pastor Michelle
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